Do You Create Your Reality?

Day in and day out we live our lives...Often excited about the things that happen along the way, sometimes, not so much. We complain about the things that happen to us, the things that we do not want to do. We never really question whether it's made up or whether it is true.
Of course it's true, we were there! But how much of our reality is true reality?
Everything we experience...see, hear, think, believe is filtered by our own made up story. All of the facts, and fiction and that we have "deposited" into our mental bank. We believe that things are good or bad because somewhere along the way, we learned that they were. We decided whether we agreed or disagreed, and poof, that was deposited for future recall.
Sounds crazy? Think about how many times you have thought or said that you didn't like something. A color, a style, a car, whatever. Next thing you know, it is the "latest thing". You start to see it everywhere, over and over again. You're friends start wearing it, people on TV are wearing it. Next thing you know, you catch yourself at Stein Mart looking for it! Whether it's a yellow dress, or the latest blue and brown comforter, you now have changed your opinion. You didn't really decide to...or did you?
Without realizing it, our subconscious is constantly at work. It "hears" everything we say, and stores it away for us. Kind of like a computer. As long as it's there, whenever we think about something, it goes into that RAM and pulls out whatever research or evidence is there to support us.
If we think "I'm so unorganized", poof, there it is saying "yep, you are right! Remember the last time you..."
If we think "I hate my job" , it will promptly pull up all of the past evidence to support that. AND just like when you get a new red pickup and you suddenly see them everywhere you go, it will scan for you, to find further support.
So what does all of this mean?
It means that we often create our own reality! If we decide that everyone that is thin is beautiful, or that everyone else has more than we do, or that our boss is out to get us, we will find evidence everywhere to support our belief!
So, if you hate your house, or your job, or your spouse, can you change your thinking and therefore that "reality" too?
Of course!
Try it! Write down 10 things that you love about your life, job, spouse, or whatever it is that you are unhappy with. Go to bed tonight thinking I am so grateful for...(these 10 things). While you are getting ready in the morning, review the list again. Do this for 5 days. It works! Really!
Not convinced? Try something that you are less attached to. "Decide" that you are going to redecorate a room in your house a color that you don't particularly care for, and then go to decorating stores or websites and see what happens!

Do We Want Too Much? Or Do We Just Not Know What We Want?

I recently read an email from a friend of mine who was returning from a third world country. Something that she "said" struck me. She mentioned that she had lost her cell phone and felt that she was "once again" having to learn a lesson about "attachment".

It kept coming back to me and I couldn't help but wonder, "is that the lesson, or is it something else? Is attachment a bad thing?"
Maybe the lesson is about gratitude. Maybe we "lose" things because we need to be reminded to be thankful for what we have.

Think about it...all we hear about these days is "we need change", which implies that what we have is bad, or wrong, or broken. In many cases that may be true. But, it also takes away our focus on what is good, on what we do have, and distracts us from all that we have to be thankful for.

Take the "economic crisis" for example. This certainly represents an area that needs to be changed. But part of that change starts with us. One thing that is clear is that we apparently live in a world that cannot function without "credit". My boys and I were in Target the other day an my younger son asked if I would buy him something and let him "earn it" later. I said "I can't do that. I can't tell the cashier I want to buy it now and pay for it later. Hmmm...actually...we do it all of the time! Do we all want to have it now and earn it later? Some would say we simply want too much...and that is a bad thing. right?
I thought that was the answer, but then I talked to someone yesterday, and she asked me what "I want in life". Now, I am rarely at a loss for words, and would normally believe that I am very clear in my goals, etc. However, I found myself stammering as I answered this question. She said that "it's ok to want". I realized that this seemed to counter to this line of thinking. "Wanting is bad, right?" I felt a little confused.

Maybe we are all confused. Perhaps it is ok to want what we want in life. Instead of focusing on what we "need to change" or what we "don't have", we should be clear in the kind of life we want to live, what our dreams are, what our purpose is, and what makes us happy and fulfilled. Maybe if we were all clear in what we really want, gave ourselves permission to, and gave ourselves credit for our progress we've made and were grateful for the abundance that we do have, we wouldn't want as much "stuff".